Reshoot: Lighting

As we discovered from our second shoot, and from when we began editing our lighting needed a lot of working on. As from before, even when we were shooting our lighting was a problem. We were trying to create an atmosphere within our set that was sultry, however we were trying to set our lighting too low an intensity. After reflecting after our edit we decided to set up a 'mock' set in one of the media rooms, to work on how we were going to light our set with the help of our technician Chris.

Chris advised us to use two lights instead of three, so we could heighten the intensity of the lights so they would stop flickering on the low intensities we were currently using. One light would act as a spot and one would act as a flood light, both being on one of the highest intensities.

Even if the lighting appeared bright on the camera, the camera would adjust and we realised we could always grade the sequence later, to darken or add contrast to the shots.

He also advised that we shoot the lighting all from the same direction, in order to keep continuity,  only slightly adjusting the lights slightly, instead of physically moving them around the room.

Main Edit (1) Reflections

After we completed the edit of our second shoot, we went through it shot by shot in order to see what needed changing, so we were prepared for our next shoot:

Shot 1: Too shaky, should hold on Yssy longer at the end, work on framing- having less space on right hand side.

Shot 2: Turn bottles around, no product placement.

Shot 3: Make sure no product placement with objects we see in drawer.

Shot 4: Two strokes for blusher, looks unnatural.

Shot 5: Unnatural stroke of blusher, work on speed- bit too slow.

Shot 6: Light in bottom left corner, continuity of where she places blusher-make sure its the same positioning in the next shot, decide where the focus should be

Shot 7:  Buy new lip gloss, so drip is accentuated.

Shot 8: Apply lip gloss to whole of bottom lip, be careful where it is placed, mind the corners of the lip so it doesn't look messy.

Shot 9: Work on the turn movement, should flow more, either decide on no head tilt or a more subtle head tilt.

Shot 10: Continuity of head tilt and smile, make sure what we see in the mirror doesn't include unwanted stuff like lights, and stuff on the bed.

Shot 11: Slower movement of the hand, work on how the ring is put on so it looks more natural, have the fist clench more central of the shot.

Shot 12: Dust on perfume, make sure all the bottles are turned around to avoid product placement.

Shot 13: Make the shot closer up to focus on perfume spray, take the hair all the way round to the other side instead of just to the back.

Shot 14: Too dark, add a light at the front.

Shot 15: Experiment with angles, to see what is most effective and not dis-orientating to audience.

Shot 16: Work on movement of camera, make outside dark by adding black paper to windows, clear stuff in hallway, hold the camera on him looking at her at the end for a bit longer. Maybe have him closing the door for continuity later.

Shot 17: No changes needed.

Shot 18: No track of camera needed, hold still.

Shot 19: Continuity of door (one shot closed then one open).

Shot 20: Use the tripod instead of handheld as shot is a little shaky. Conversation slightly unnatural- Yssy should stay looking at him when talking, then go to turn around, see him checking his watch, then turn around to re-assure him in next shot.

Shot 21: Grainy- work on lighting

Shot 22: Work on framing- have more of her in mirror, maybe have shot closer up to focus on his speech.

Shot 23: No changes needed.

Film research: Characters

In order to develop our characters, and therefore find appropriate ways of representing them within the opening sequence we decided to look further into similar characters, and characteristics of them.

 

When thinking about props, character and costume, we decided that it was important to gain inspiration from other films and television programs that we were aware of.

 

First we considered the characteristics of our characters:

 

Strong:

In order to succeed in her quest to find her sister our character must be strong, physically and within the mental games of manipulation she must play on others.

 

Influence: Carrie from Homeland, Kill Bill.

 

 

 

Caring:

Her devotion and care towards her sister is displayed within the extent she goes to to find her.

Influence: Kill Bill

 

 

Seductive Nature:

She must manipulate 'the boyfriend' and the boyfriends dad in order to find out more information about her sister.

Influence: Revenge, Emily Thorne.

 

 

Framing:

Our final line is a very important part of our sequence, and representation of our film because it probes into a lot about our character.

We decided to have our main female character to say the line 'oh it will be' behind her boyfriends back, in order to represent the way she is doing many things 'behind his back' due to her deception front she is putting on. WE wanted to capture her displaying an expression he couldn't see to represent the lies/ side to her he is not seeing. We were influenced by the following framings from Vampire diaries:

 

Other Framings we were influenced by involve the mirror shot, in which we see her display a certain emotion. The costume of a black dress is also inspired by the following image:

The female appears strong, but there is a slight consideration of doubt within the way she is almost questioning herself in the mirror. We want to reveal the slightly weaker side to our strong female character in the same way this image does.

Main Shoot: Costume and Props List

For the Set: 

• Various natural occurring items on the dressing table such as make-up and jewelry.
  
   

Props Yssy uses:

• Perfume

• Photograph

• Red lip gloss

• Blusher + brush

• Ring

• Dressing gown

Costume:
Yssy (Rose):

• Black dress with zip

• Heels

Jurgen (fiance)

• Smart shirt
• Watch

Main Shoot: Storyboarding

In order to prepare for our second shoot we needed to put all our reflections into practice. So our shoot could run as smoothly as possible, we edited our shoot board which included taking out shots we had deleted, adding in our new dialogue, and pointing out what needed to be changed about the shots we had taken previously and we were keeping.

Shot No.	Shot Image	Description/Camera/ Dialogue
1		Low angle mid shot of heels, tilts up to her looking at a photo. Adjustments: speed of smoothness of tilt upwards
2		Over the shoulder shot of her looking at photograph, high angle, tracks her movement as she goes Adjustments: Careful with product placement, actual picture, turning of the photo and putting in drawer needs to be more natural.
3		Extreme Close-up of blusher application side view
4		Side angle, over the shoulder MS of reaching for lip gloss Adjustments: more speed and new lipstick needed with deeper red colour.
5		Extreme close-up of lip gloss opening and dripping, slow motion. Tilts to her putting it on. Adjustments: More natural handling of lip gloss.
6		MCU of her sullen expression, arks to see her smiling in the mirror. Slow motion. Adjustments: Adjust the angle of the camera so that the actor doesn’t need to turn. More sinister then a quicker transformation to the smile which needs to be more superficial/ get across the message more (so that the second the camera is on the mirror, a smile is shown).
7		CUT to a continuity shot of getting the ring.
8		CU of her putting on the engagement ring and then clenching her fists Adjustments: Good angle needs more speed and real ring. Clench of fist needs to be more natural and brooding/suggestive.
9		Reaching for the perfume shot. Adjustments: Good angle, no product placement – turn around (and different items in background) and different perfume.
10		Slow motion close up shot of neck spraying perfume Adjustments: Good angle, need to be quicker on the actual spray and need to adjust the lighting so that the spray is more prominent.
11		Eyelevel shot of back of neck, camera follows as the dressing gown falls to the ground Adjustments: Good angle but need to ensure lighting is not in the scene.
12		Wide shot, of women putting on dress/ pulling it down. -Man introduced into background Adjustments: Good angle, no charger in background, and good focussing.
13		Camera behind man reaching for zip, mid shot. -Change of focus from her to him. Adjustments: Good angle but needs smoother movement of camera. Do not get the wire from the light in. Need new dress.
14		Side angle, close up of man going to zip up dress. Camera tracks as he does it up.
15		Mid shot Boyfriend kisses her shoulder, women slightly pulls away, reacting negatively towards him . Adjustments: New dialogue: J: You look beautiful, then kisses. Good angle. Actress needs to have hands in same position as they were in previous shot, i.e. up after moving hair to side.
16		Wide shot of the man noticing the woman’s strange behaviour, and asks “Are you okay?” Woman composes herself and begins to turn around. Adjustments: Yssy says: R: (smiles) I didn't hear you come in? J: Well, it is getting pretty late.. we should probably get going.. R: I'm nearly ready, just give me a minute j: (checks watch)- looks nervous Good angle. Actors need to act properly. Make sure eyes finish off down, so that next shot can be continuous. Turn more naturally
17		Mid shot, Match on Action of the woman turning around, smiling and replying “Yeah, of course.” Adjustments: R: (turns around) it's going to be fine Good angle, needs faster pace. Good angle. Keep hands down.
18		Mid shot, side angle of the woman fixing the man’s blazer. Man asks “Are you nervous?” Adjustments: New dialogue: J: You don't know my father. Everything has got to be perfect with him. Good shot. In this shot, actress must start fiddling with blazer, and look up a bit more.
19		Over-the-shoulder mid shot of the woman going to hug the man. Woman is smiling with her eyes closed then opens them and changes her expression to say: “I’ve been waiting a long time for this.” Camera zooms out slowly. Adjustments: New dialogue: “ (hugs him) Oh, it will be” Adjust angle slightly, (act properly) and ensure hug is done in the exact same way for each shot.